Odes on Tender Specie(s) Vol III: Bad Faith · Track 29 · middle
GameStop (Reddit)
January 2021. r/wallstreetbets vs. Melvin Capital. The short squeeze. Citadel pulling Robinhood off the buy button. The first time retail beat hedge funds at their own game. Ludo dances on it — at the hedgies, not the apes.
Lyrics
[Intro] Log on. Scroll down. See a kitty, roaring. Something's in the water. January, twenty-twenty-one. [Verse 1] The suits in their towers, they made a big bet. Said the strip mall video game store was dead. Little Gabe Plotkin at Melvin, so smug. Time to pull the plug, give the rug a good tug. But down in the basement, on r/wallstreetbets, a million beautiful idiots place their own bets. They saw the short interest, they saw the play. "Apes together strong," is what they all say. [Chorus] Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! Diamond hands 'til the hearse drop. We just like the stock! Watch the hedge fund pop. Sending rockets to the moon from a laptop. Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! Kenny's crying on the phone to his dad, "Pop!" We just like the stock! Make the numbers talk. [Verse 2] The ticker goes green, a vertical line. Deep-effing-value, a hero online. Four hundred a share, is this even real? The taste of their panic, the best tasting meal. They're screaming on CNBC, pulling their hair. "It's market manipulation! It isn't fair!" Sorry, my dude, did we break your machine? Just wanted some tendies, you know what I mean. [Chorus] Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! Diamond hands 'til the hearse drop. We just like the stock! Watch the hedge fund pop. Sending rockets to the moon from a laptop. Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! Gabe is calling up his friends at the top. We just like the stock! Make the numbers talk. [Bridge] Then Vlad from the 'hood, with a tap on the glass, said the party's over for the lower class. Took away the buy button, just like that. Had to save his friends in the Citadel flat. They showed us the rules are for me and for you. But when they start losing, they change what you do. They turned off the game, but we already won. We saw the whole system come undone. [Chorus] Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! Diamond hands 'til the hearse drop. We just like the stock! Watch the hedge fund pop. Sending rockets to the moon from a laptop. Can't stop, won't stop, GameStop! History's greatest, funniest Photoshop! We just like the stock! Make the numbers talk. [Outro] To the moon. To the moon. Hold the line. Heh. They lost to a cat poster and a red headband. Iconic.